A Fighter's Chance

ROSE FROM POVERTY AND AMASSED A $275 MILLION FORTUNE AS ONE OF THE BEST POUND-FOR-POUND BOXERS IN THE WORLD.

- BRETT KNIGHT

CANELO ÁLVAREZ

AS HE BUILDS HIS BUSINESS EMPIREA PATCHWORK COLLECTION OF  MEXICAN GAS STATIONS, CONVENIENCE STORES, A BUS COMPANY AND A COCKTAIL BRAND-THE 33-YEAR-OLD CHAMPION IS ONCE AGAIN PUNCHING ABOVE HIS WEIGHT IN PURSUIT OF BECOMING A BILLIONAIRE.

At his ranch on the southwestern outskirts of Guadalajara, Mexico, Saúl Álvarez, the country's most famous boxer, settles into a leather chair next to a zebra-skin rug.

Behind him is a floor-to-ceiling window offering a view of a dirt paddock where he can ride his 30-odd horses, stabled next to a towering horse sculpture and the peacocks that greet visitors through the property’s front gate. The back entrance is plenty impressive as well, with a Mercedes-AMG G 65 waiting to whisk him away to a nearby golf course—through a colossal metal door straight out of Jurassic Park—as members of his staff zip in and out in cars emblazoned with the nickname by which he is universally known: Canelo.

Álvarez was No. 5 on Forbes’ 2023 list of the world’s highest-paid athletes, with $110 million in pretax earnings over the 12 months ending in May. Since the list began in 1990, he is one of just 15 athletes to have reached nine figures in a single year, joining the likes of Roger Federer, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. In fact, Álvarez, a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2018, can get halfway there in one fight, collecting about $1.4 million per minute for a 12-round bout. That has pushed the 33-year-old super-middleweight’s career earnings to nearly $600 million (pretax), according to Forbes estimates—so when Álvarez says that boxing is “not about money,” it’s partly because he doesn’t